Happy Reader of my book,'The Fascinating Tales of Urdu & its Courtyard — Dilli'
Mr Abu Shafquat (UK), Ex-CEO, AT&T and Telstra, with my book,'The Fascinating Tales of Urdu & its Courtyard — Dilli.The book offers a glimpse into Delhi’s changing history, culture, language and society. It gives an insight of the seven fabled cities of Delhi along with an interesting journey of Urdu, which was born and brought up here.
The book has stories — from kings, nawabs and poets to saints, faqirs and courtesans. The Fascinating Tales of Urdu & its Courtyard — Dilli is available on Fipkart.com, Amazon.in and Urdubazaar.in.
Delhi has a splendid legacy of Urdu poets — from Hatim, Dard, Sauda, Mir and Mushafi to Zauq, Ghalib, Zafar, Momin, Shefta and Daagh — who saw both the splendour and ravages of the time. The book also gives readers an exposure to Urdu prose and letters which are an important part of Delhi’s history. For the benefit of those who are not well-versed in Urdu, the author has written the extracts in Roman script (English) and has explained the meanings of difficult Urdu words too.
International Readers of The Fascinating Tales of Urdu & its Courtyard — Dilli
The Fascinating Tales of Urdu and its Courtyard is indeed a fascinating book. Away from Percival Spear's "Delhi - Its Monuments and History" or even away from a slightly deeper dive by Professor Sunil Kumar's "The Present in Delhi's Pasts", Raza Elahi's enlightening book interweaves a rich tapestry of language within the vibrant historical atmosphere of Delhi. It is almost as rich in its approach to Delhi's 700 plus years of cultural and social evolution as Ibn Khaldun's perspective of history, highlighting the the human aspects of a city which, unlike the myth of Romulus and Remus's 7 hills of Rome, grew within 7 distinctly demarcated geographical locations. Most of us know the dates and the headlined events of Delhi's history. Many of us who are aware of the mystic traditions may have also read "Fawa'id al-Fu'ad", the masterly almost daily record of Shaykh Nizam as-din Awliya's darbar and its accurate descriptions of people, their interactions and aspirations in and around Delhi. Now, thanks to Raza Elahi's insightful book we learn about the characters, their roles, the conversations and the manner of their engagements within the stony courtyards of Delhi's past. Amidst the sinister efforts to try and airbrush away the heritage of this cultural goldmine, or as Prof Sunil Kumar puts it: "dangerous ... for a modern audience looking for simple linear correlations between the past and the present to legitimise narrow, presentist interests", Raza Elahi's book should encourage the readers to learn from an unbiased vision of history. We will all surely be better off if we do. One forward-looking suggestion is to consider a digital edition along with colourful pictures and sounds from archives - this is the medium which will be preserved and widely accessible for future generations. All the best.
The Fascinating Tales of Urdu and its Courtyard is indeed a fascinating book. Away from Percival Spear's "Delhi - Its Monuments and History" or even away from a slightly deeper dive by Professor Sunil Kumar's "The Present in Delhi's Pasts", Raza Elahi's enlightening book interweaves a rich tapestry of language within the vibrant historical atmosphere of Delhi. It is almost as rich in its approach to Delhi's 700 plus years of cultural and social evolution as Ibn Khaldun's perspective of history, highlighting the the human aspects of a city which, unlike the myth of Romulus and Remus's 7 hills of Rome, grew within 7 distinctly demarcated geographical locations. Most of us know the dates and the headlined events of Delhi's history. Many of us who are aware of the mystic traditions may have also read "Fawa'id al-Fu'ad", the masterly almost daily record of Shaykh Nizam as-din Awliya's darbar and its accurate descriptions of people, their interactions and aspirations in and around Delhi. Now, thanks to Raza Elahi's insightful book we learn about the characters, their roles, the conversations and the manner of their engagements within the stony courtyards of Delhi's past. Amidst the sinister efforts to try and airbrush away the heritage of this cultural goldmine, or as Prof Sunil Kumar puts it: "dangerous ... for a modern audience looking for simple linear correlations between the past and the present to legitimise narrow, presentist interests", Raza Elahi's book should encourage the readers to learn from an unbiased vision of history. We will all surely be better off if we do. One forward-looking suggestion is to consider a digital edition along with colourful pictures and sounds from archives - this is the medium which will be preserved and widely accessible for future generations. All the best.
ReplyDeletethanks a lot for the indepth & encouraging feedback.... sure, will consider its digital edition too...
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